Models for within-proposition representation tested by cued recall

A model is presented to account for the data from incremental cuing experiments that have been carried out to identify the representation of propositions in memory. In such experiments subjects first learn a list of sentences and are afterward cued for recall with words from the learned sentences. The model proposed distinguishes between a memory structure and stimulus and response processes. The all-or-none tendency in the data is captured by a Gestalt-like memory code. The model is compared with the stochastic theory of Anderson and Bower and the fragmentation hypothesis of Jones.     

The formation of reference systems in visual motion perception

Summary In visual perception complex movements are usually split up into components — e.g., in such a way that a moving reference system is applied, to which partial movements can be related. In the following experiment a perceptual vector analysis of this kind was investigated. It was shown that 1) a radial translatory movement (relative component) can be isolated perceptually from a rotatory movement (global component) and that 2) the precision of this decomposition of the complex movement is dependent on the strength at which the rotating reference system is anchored perceptually.The authors wish to thank M. Rauterberg for collecting the experimental data     

A three-component analysis of the modality effect in single-trial free recall

Johann-Wolfgang-Goethe Unversität, Frankfurt am Main, West-Germany In single-trial free recall a superiority of acoustical over visual presentation has been observed in the recency part of the serial position curve. The rehearsal-buffer model by Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968) was modified to distinguish between three different explanations that are discussed in the literature. The application of the model allowed some of the parameters to vary across modes of presentation while other parameters were held constant. A model assuming either a precategorical acoustical storage or additional processing for visually presented items gives a better account of the results than does a model derived from a two-store hypothesis.